Between 1791 and 1804, the French Caribbean colony of Saint-Domingue saw the only successful slave uprising in modern history. Later known as the Haitian Revolution, these events turned into what was arguably the most radical of the major revolutions that rocked the Atlantic world in the decades around 1800. Bringing about Haiti, the second independent nation-state in the Americas -- run by former slaves and the first to ban racial discrimination and slavery -- the revolution sent shockwaves well beyond the Caribbean. For quite a long time, the Haitian Revolution has remained at the margins of the ever-expanding literature on the Atlantic "age of revolutions." Over the past two decades, however, Haiti has become the focus of thriving new scholarship. In the light of this renewed interest, the course provides an overview of the Haitian Revolution in its broader, Atlantic and global contexts. Topics include (but are not limited to): the entanglement with the American, French and Latin American revolutions; the intricacies of the conflicts cutting across class, race and ideology; the international dimensions of the revolution; the realities of emancipation and post-slavery; the challenges of establishing sovereign Haiti; and the impact of the revolution across the Atlantic world, and beyond. Taking the Haitian Revolution as its starting point, the seminar will also revisit major concepts such as the "age of revolutions" and "Atlantic history." After an introductory session on October 25, 14-16, the course will take place in block sessions: December 13, 10:00-18:00, and December 14, 10-18:00; February 7, 13:00-18:00, and February 8, 10:00-18:00. Please make sure you can participate in all sessions. In order to successfully complete the course, you must meet the following requirements: A. Regular and active participation; B. prepration and moderation of the discussion for one of our classes; C. written responses to the readings uploaded to Blackboard, including 2-3 short essays; D. seminar paper (option, depending on your module. close

Recommended introductory literature: Jeremy D. Popkin, A Concise History of the Haitian Revolution (Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012); Laurent Dubois and John D. Garrigus, Slave Revolution in the Caribbean, 1789-1804: A Brief History with Documents (Boston/New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2006); David P. Geggus (ed.), The Haitian Revolution: A Documentary History (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 2014). close